1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a structure for mounting an electrical module, in which switches, meters, and control circuits therefor to be mounted to an instrument panel of an automobile are integrally arranged, to an instrument panel.
Here, "an electrical module" is defined as an electrical unit in which switches, meters, control circuits therefor, flexible printed circuit boards, and the like are integrally connected and arranged.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in electric circuits in an instrument panel of an automobile, wires of a wire harness which is formed based on prescribed electrical circuits are manually distributed to a body of the automobile and a dashboard of the instrument panel of the automobile, and connectors of the wire harness and those of the switches and the meters are connected with each other to form electric circuits.
With the advance of electronization and electrical control in an automobile, in an instrument panel mounted in front of a drive's seat, the number of switches and meters are increased and electrical circuits become complicated, therefore, the wire harness used for forming the electrical circuits becomes larger and heavier, so that it becomes difficult to accommodate such wire harness in a limited space, and a mounting work therefor is apt to be considerably complicated and inefficient.
In a Japanese Patent Publication (unexamined) No. Heisei 7-96774, a meter module M is proposed, as illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9, to make electric circuits in an instrument panel simple.
In FIG. 9, the meter module M comprises: an instrument board a to which meters, indication lamps, and the like, and drive circuits therefor are mounted; an electric junction box b in which a power source for mounted electrical elements including the above-mentioned meters and indication lamps, and functional circuits for distributing and controlling input/output signals are accommodated; a switch unit c in which switches for the electrical elements are accommodated; a cluster module d in which the instrument board a, the electric junction box b, and the switch unit c are integrally connected with each other; and a finish panel e which is mounted on the front face of the cluster module d.
As illustrated in FIG. 8, the meter module M is to be mounted to a predetermined portion of an instrument panel f, and a connector h, which is connected to a wire harness g in the automobile, and a connector i (shown in FIG. 9), which is connected to the meter module M are connected to each other to obtain the electrical connection between the wire harness g and the meter module M.
However, in the meter module M described above, when the distance between the connector h of the wire harness g and the connector i on the meter module M side is long, the shift in relative position between the both connectors h and i becomes larger in accordance with the distance, it is required to use an expensive movable connector which is easily connected to the other connector with the larger shift in position.
Further, it may be possible to absorb the shift in position using a connector S in FIG. 10, which is disclosed in a Japanese Utility Model Publication (unexamined) No. Showa 58-10384. In the connector S, a stretchable contact m is attached to a circuit of a printed circuit board j through an elastic member k to absorb the shift in position at the contact with a mated contact n.
However, even if the expensive movable connector is used for the connector h of the wire harness g, or the connector S is adopted, work for connecting the both connectors h and i with the shift in position being absorbed is often carried out blindly, resulting in poor workability.
Further, it is difficult to apply wiring to a flat wire harness with a shape of flat board, and if a lock mechanism is adopted for a connecting mechanism like an ordinary connector, modules cannot be removed, therefore, a worker connect them with screws or the like, which may provide problems such as miswiring and frequent inferior connection.